A few weeks ago, we were invited by Tesla to test drive their newest car, the Model X version Plaid, to see the power of the beast. For my part, not only was this my first time driving a 100% electric vehicle, it was also my first time flying a fighter jet on the road! Little feedback that takes your breath away.
Summary
- From the Renault 5 to the Tesla Model X Plaid, 25 years of contrasting love for cars
- Arrived at the Tesla dealer, children’s eyes lit up at Christmas
- Impressive on the outside, soft on the inside
From the Renault 5 to the Tesla Model X Plaid, 25 years of contrasting love for cars
First of all, if you want to read our real-world test of the Tesla Model X, you can find it right here:
I tested the world’s fastest SUV, the Tesla Model X Plaid, an electric car so crazy it becomes unbelievable!
That’s why, on March 10th, we went with Loïc to Tesla France’s headquarters in Chambourcy, in the Yvelines, to discover the “small” last of the brand that everyone is talking about, the famous Model X Plaid. So, on a rainy day in March, we drove to Tesla headquarters in my humble Kia Niro Hybrid.
One thing you have to know before you continue is that I’m not really interested in cars. For me, a car is a means of transport like any other, with which I can drive home with my family during the holidays in Belle-île-en-Mer. The end of the story.
1998 vs. 2023
I got my driver’s license 25 years ago near Fontainebleau at a Clio driving school and my parents had a Renault Espace and an R5 that I could use however I wanted. A necessary evil, because you have to realize that 25 years ago (and it still is) as soon as you live more than 20 kilometers from a big city, the public transport offer doesn’t look like much anymore and can quickly become a real nuisance become. Two years later I went to Paris, no more car, no need to drive a scooter and ride young.
It was only recently, when I left Paris to settle in the suburbs, that I rediscovered the joy of having a car. After extensive market research, we therefore chose a Kia Niro Hybrid and I have to admit that it has reconciled me with the automobile and makes me completely satisfied (I ride the scooter every day). The joys of automated driving and so-called “semi-autonomous” driving with adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning have allowed me to do away with everything I hate about a traditional car. Obviously I’m not a big fan of driving, you’ll understand…
Arrived at the Tesla dealer, children’s eyes lit up at Christmas
But while I’m not passionate about the automotive world, I’m still a huge tech geek, and Tesla’s approach to the world of today and tomorrow has appealed to me for many years. I’ve had the opportunity to drive Model 3s a few times and just that, we have to admit, it doesn’t look too much like our parents’ idea of a traditional car. It was with great excitement that I approached this day, which will undoubtedly shape my life as a Sunday driver forever…
In reality I wasn’t expecting much, I went there mainly to see and accompany Loïc to his exam. I just wanted to see what a car could look like, or should I say a vehicle?, with more than 150,000 dollars, or for the old ones, about 1 million from our last year’s 2000 francs, consider that for this price, you can If you have a house with garden and swimming pool in the province, don’t forget it.
In short, after a short half-hour drive we ended up here in Chambourcy, in the Tesla HQ car park, and there we were no doubt in the right place given the number of Tesla cars in front of us.
At first glance, the brand’s French headquarters looks like a dealership like any other, a large hall with a MAGNIFICENT flamboyant red Model X plaid sitting in the center of the room welcoming salespeople and Macs, smilingly choosing their future car and ordered with a seller. In short, we have not been destabilized.
We were entitled to a very complete briefing of about 45 minutes, first on the computer, then in the car, and less than an hour after our arrival we were off for a test drive of about 6 hours through the streets of Île-de-France and the Normandy aboard a real fighter plane that can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds and that theoretically (because we didn’t push the rocket that far) can reach a top speed of 262 km/h. H.
Impressive on the outside, soft on the inside
When you stand in front of it, the Tesla Model X Plaid looks huge and you wonder if and how it can happen in certain narrow streets. We wouldn’t have been proud to navigate the dustbins in Paris, but in the end, once the steering wheel in hand, sorry, the “yoke” (we’ll get back to that), we have the impression of driving a car almost like that others, the luxury, the finishes, the leather, the dashboard, the additional finishes… Yes, okay, we clearly drive excellence.
The thing that comes to mind the most in comparison is a bit like traveling first class on an airplane. Everything is beautiful here, everything is sublimated. I’ll say it again, but everything exudes luxury, the leather seats, the main screen that looks better than any laptop screen I’ve seen in my life, the little extra screen for the rear passengers, the leg room and then the Falcon Wing doors… What class! You just have to look at the photos to see how me and my 85 meter could easily stand in the car!
Whether as a passenger or as a driver, the test was incredible. Basically I had to drive 1h30 to 2h and in plaid mode or worse in dragster I have to admit that I wasn’t that much reassured, the car was too powerful for me and especially for the small roads we were traveling on. The Normal and Sport modes are more than sufficient in 99% of cases.
In France, with our laws, it’s difficult to fully test Tesla’s vision of autonomous driving, but on the Autobahn, lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control, passing assist, etc. are very comfortable and make driving much smoother. Things that I can already partly find on my Kia Niro Hybrid, which also benefits from what is known as Level 2 autonomous driving, not to mention the highlight of the show, Auto Park Assist or “Automatic Parking”, which lets the car park itself By They make the slots for you, comes out big big!
The only downer on this day of handling is the famous “yoke” steering wheel, which (to put it politely) didn’t really convince us from the start despite a good promise: prefer to enjoy the road and open your field of vision. In the end, and while we’re assured it takes around 48 hours to get used to, we found it so unergonomic it’s borderline dangerous.
So the “Yoke” steering wheel, yes but no
When you have to drive around a roundabout while trying to use the turn signal to get out, it’s a real annoyance that you don’t see how 10 years of practice could improve that… Also, since the first writing of this article, Tesla is faced with this steering wheel that customers do not seem to appreciate so much, to the point that a large number are asking to change it to go back to a traditional steering wheel … Like what!
I could talk to you about this for hours, telling you how beautiful that windshield is and how we regret not having had a nice sun to enjoy, also telling you about Steam but we didn’t have a controller with us or Wi -Fi connection to download games but we promise we’ll be back!
Now I’m in trouble, I want a Tesla… So no Model X, no, but maybe a Model Y one day, who knows? It will do well!
